There's Something About Time (Vol II)
by originella
Summary: Back in the present and on the first tour of their family band in her recollection, Bella couldn't be happier to have Edward by her side as her official boyfriend. However, secrets and lies are running rampant between them, and when she, Edward, and her twin brother, Emmett, get into an argument, it will send them far into the future, with little hope of returning home safely...
1. To Rome With Love

Chapter One: To Rome with Love

I chewed my nails as Edward was obligated to read the balcony scene of _Romeo and Juliet_ with Bree Tanner, the new exchange student from Berlin. I was ruining my new manicure but I couldn't care less. I was sixteen-years-old, and it was the last class of the last day of my two months of my senior year of high school. I still thought what my high school was doing was technically illegal, but maybe they figured that because of all my credits that they wanted me gone. Maybe they didn't appreciate my overachieving nature…

Thankfully, I noticed, that Edward kept his mouth closed while doing the mandatory kissing scenes with Bree. It was our two-month anniversary that night, with next Tuesday being our graduation, and I wouldn't have some drop-dead gorgeous German exchange student messing it up—or, at least, take it lying down. I had the evening all planned out, and, since it was a Friday, I didn't have a curfew.

The bell rang and Edward disengaged himself from Bree and came to pick up his things before sliding an arm around my waist as we walked out of there. We ran into my best friend and his younger sister, Alice, a.k.a. my partner in crime, in the hallway shortly thereafter, and I found myself smiling at the notion that none of this was awkward. She waved hello and walked with us, all the while talking to Jasper on her new latest-edition iPhone. Jasper, as always, was waiting for her in the parking lot, because he was done with classes for the summer already and did independent study for summer so that he could go on tour with the band.

We waved to Alice and Jasper as we walked through the parking lot, and I spotted Emmett, my twin brother, now with that motorcycle he wanted, walking proudly with his now-acknowledged girlfriend, Rosalie Hale, who had extended her stay here in Washington State. Edward smirks a little at me, and I remember my jealousy her cousin, Tanya,, who now seems to fawn over me at every opportunity she can, instead of treating me with disdain at every turn. We walk quickly passed them, towards Edward's silver Volvo, and get in before anyone can get the opportunity to fangirl me.

"So what now?" Edward asks me as we painstakingly pull out of the parking lot and proceed to drive down the street, now swarmed with fellow student escapees from school grounds. "We've got our caps and gowns picked up, we're ditching senior night, and graduation isn't being held until Tuesday. We've got off school for the whole weekend and no homework in the foreseeable future, and we're due to leave for Europe in just two weeks."

I giggle at that and remove my leather jacket, a gift from Marie. "Well, Mom and Dad are away until Monday because Mike and Eric surprised them with a trip down to Tacoma and tickets at the Dome. Apparently, they got tickets for Katy Perry…"

He smiles. "Isn't it fun when parents have gay friends to join in activities with?" Edward asks me as we keep driving.

"So fun," I reply, leaning across the seat separator and kissing his cheek, nuzzling the skin and inhaling the scent of him, comfortable with showing my affection for him now that we were an official couple. "Jasper will be with Alice all weekend in the guest house, and Emmett and Rosalie are going away with her aunt and uncle for a weekend getaway to Portland so my house is all free of parental units for the weekend…"

"What's the prognosis on the medical end?" Edward wants to know as we begin driving in the direction of my house, located in Sunset Hill.

"Mom got me on the pill as soon as we got back, and that was in the middle of April. It's the middle of June now so that means all systems are go," I say, biting my lip.

"I went to the drug store last night and managed to pick up a few…condoms," Edward whispers to me, allowing his eyebrows to rise and fall dramatically.

I giggle naughtily and allow myself to move closer to him as we get nearer and nearer to my parent's neighborhood. I manage to push the seat divider out of the way completely and lean on his shoulder. Edward proceeds to drive one-handed so as he can hold me close to him, causing warmth to enter me then. He is wearing his David Bowie T-shirt that afternoon, due to the hot weather, and I am reminded of our trip back in time, nearly two months ago.

There were good things and bad things about going back in time, as would be the case with any situations of altering history. Good things, of course, involved the fact that the weather was actually more predictable, due to the fact that global warming was not as popular then and Planet Earth seemed to be better off at the time, reasonably. Another good thing was the fact that my hair could be really huge and nobody looked at me funny or assumed that I was in the unfortunate situation where I would have to turn to sex work in order to survive. The last good thing was that Edward and I were finally able to come together, and admit our love, and now, it seemed, we could be happy.

What with our mutual acceptance into the University of Washington, we would be able to still live in our respective childhood homes, but thankfully less restrictions would apply. Since I would be beginning my freshman year of college as a sixteen-year-old, and I wouldn't be turning seventeen until mid-November, I would still have to adhere to some kind of curfew at home, but holidays and breaks were open season, as always.

Now that, in this new life, my mother and father weren't doctors, they had much more time to spend with Jasper, Emmett, and me. In the original world, my parents were workaholic doctors who had difficulty conceiving a child and, as a result, ended up adopting my oldest brother, Jasper, from France when they were in their late twenties. However, in this new world we lived in, the difficulty to have a child naturally hadn't come, as they were more relaxed and happy in their marriage and in their work and they'd managed to conceive doubly when it came to my biological brother and me.

Edward managed to drive one-handed all the way to Sunset Hill without causing an accident and soon was parking on the street. We got out of the car and walked in through the back gate, over the cobblestones of the backyard and up the steps onto the veranda. I unlocked the door easily and let Edward in behind me, shutting and locking the door behind me. We walked upstairs to my bedroom, no other signs of life in the house, and went directly into my bedroom. I shooed our new family cat, Zafrina, out of the room—she was an orange marmalade who inexplicably loved to travel, so she would accompany us to Europe that summer.

I shut the curtains and Edward locked the door, and then I pulled back the laced comforter from my bed and watched Edward as he and I seemed to mirror each other's movements as we undressed quickly in the semi-darkness. Then, standing there quite naked, I reached out with my fingertips and found him, and, smiling, we walked towards my bed to begin our bliss where it had been abruptly cut short in 1982.

. . .

I awoke around five-thirty and turned to gaze at Edward for a moment, hardly believing my eyes at what I saw. This man, this beautiful man, was my boyfriend, _my boyfriend_ , at long last. Even though he didn't remember all the love we shared in 1982, and I didn't know when I would tell him of that love, I knew that, one day, he should know about it—the whole story, and although I knew that it could damage us forever, I knew the truth had to be told.

I slipped from my bed and walked into my en suite bathroom before having a brief sponge bath and rubbing myself with my vanilla and rose scented soap. I quickly wrote a note to Edward, telling him I would be downstairs, and slipped on some random clothes before sneaking down the stairs, quiet as a little girl on Christmas morning, and into the kitchen.

My parents had all the latest appliances and such, and we had a woman who came in once a week to do the shopping this close to the tour so that we could mainly focus on the music. I went into the fridge and found steaks, as well as a bag of gourmet-looking Caesar salad in the vegetable crisper, and on the counter I found two large potatoes, so I knew it would be a heavenly evening.

I marinated the steaks for fifteen minutes and wrapped the potatoes in foil before putting them into the oven. I poured the salad into a bowl and put all the little things into it—croutons and cheese and whatnot—but didn't dress it, because my mother always said that dressing a salad too early would cause the leaves to turn soggy and gross. I popped the steaks into the broiler pan and soon heavenly smells permeated the kitchen.

Just as I pulled the steaks from the oven, I also tested the potatoes, and they were indeed soft enough to take out. I set the steaks on top of the stove and removed the foil from the potatoes, popping in butter, sour cream, chives, and cheddar cheese. I dressed the salad and placed everything on the table, just as the customary creak issued forth from the staircase and Edward made his way downstairs. I grinned at him from where I stood at the table—tablecloth down, cloth napkins, candles lit—and beckoned him forward.

"Hi," I said quietly to him.

He made it about two feet from me before grabbing me and hauling me to him, and I let out a little gasp as he held me lengthwise against his strong body. He bent down from his perfect six-feet-two-inch frame and kissed me. "So you cook, too?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I _did_ make you that blueberry pie…"

He grins at me and sits down, his eyes going wide at everything laid out before him and I swear I saw his mouth water. I moved to sit across from him and nodded that he should begin. Picking up our cutlery, we proceeded to cut steak, pick up pieces of potato, and stab at salad. Edward's eyes would close in a wave of pleasure and satisfaction at the meal before him, and I was so pleased that I could make him happy in this way.

"A way to a man's heart is his stomach," Grandma Charlotte always used to say. "You just need to know what they like."

I produced small bowls of water infused with lemon in which to wash our hands before producing individual bowls of raspberries and whipped cream for dessert. I watched with pride as Edward had a good meal, and giggled when he wrote to his mom and told her, via text, that he was staying the night with me that night. I knew his parents loved me and, despite our young age, we were both graduating next Tuesday, so they knew they would have to get used to this—us spending all this time together.

. . .

Tuesday morning came sooner than expected. Edward had snuck out Sunday night just ten minutes before Mom and Dad came home. I ran out to meet them, freshly showered, and, thankfully, they didn't say anything to me about my appearance. I asked to know about their trip and they informed me that Mike and Eric had splurged to get them backstage passes.

"No way!" I cried. "So you got to _see_ Katy Perry?" I asked.

My mother giggled, putting her roller suitcase by the stairs. "See her, talk to her, sing with her, have a drink with her," she said.

"Wait, wait, wait. You _actually_ , like, hung out with _the_ Katy Perry?"

"We're famous in our own right, too, kiddo," Dad said, kissing my forehead and peering into the refrigerator with a smile. "You made lasagna?"

I nodded, standing on my toes and kissing his cheek. "Yeah. Is that okay? I thought you and Mom might be hungry when you got back…"

Dad smiled at the considerate gesture and took out two pre-cut pieces and heated them in the microwave on a generous-sized platter. "You're a good daughter, Bella," he said. "By the way, where are our sons?"

I rolled my eyes. "They went on a double date to Bremerton," I replied, thinking it was stupid to drive all the way out there. "Rosalie hasn't ever been to a drive-in movie before and that's where the closest one is."

"She has your brother wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Mom asked, removing the lasagna from the microwave.

"You have no idea," I replied.

. . .

Going over the conversation from two nights ago in my mind helped ease my nerves for the coming day. I was shaking all over, and looking at myself dressed in a graduation uniform wasn't helping matters. Thankfully all of Edward's love bites and such were hidden—he'd had the consideration not to bite me below my wrists or above my neckline.

I managed to straighten the mandatory graduation cap and made sure that the tassel was in its proper place. Satisfied that it was fitting okay, I found I was quite tempted to fast forward through the next several hours. Edward and I were co-valedictorians so we had to write a dumb speech about how we felt about leaving an institution that I'd only really been a part of for a year and nine months, due to skipping tenth grade, the last part of junior year, and pretty much all of my senior year.

I took off the cap and gown and got into my new brunch outfit. Mom, Marie, Alice, Rosalie, and I were all going to an exclusive brunch joint somewhere close to the University District. I later discovered that it was a tea room and, thankfully, when I realized how frou-frou it really was, I persuaded them to take me to the International District for dim sum. We ended up going to the shopping center where Rosalie spent a ton of money on some of those creepy-looking white cat figurines.

Many people recognized us and Marie, Alice, and Rosalie stepped off to the side so that Mom and I could sign autographs and give out words of encouragement to rabid fangirls. Finally, we were able to get home, and I had to change into that godforsaken uniform again. Turning the tassel so that it was just right, I confirmed with Edward where we would meet at the stadium to go over our speech.

I walked down the stairs, and I was reminded of what the tour would be like. The real me didn't know what that was like, of course, considering that I myself had only just recently managed to change my destiny, and I was ill-prepared for what tour would turn out to be. I was allowed to drive myself to graduation, thankfully, and parked in a good spot in the lot. I paid for parking before walking into the stadium via the backway, and looked around for Edward, who could have been anywhere.

I stopped on the threshold when I saw Jessica, and her henchmen, Angela and Lauren. Jessica, who I didn't really see any more due to the fact that she was still a junior, rolled her eyes when she saw me.

"The school colors are _so not_ you," she said rudely.

"Hello, Jessica, how are you?" I asked her in a pleasant voice. "Angela, Lauren, you're looking well. I didn't know you three were graduating…"

Jessica turned red. "I was just wishing my brother, Abraham, good luck," she replies, and hurriedly considers what to say next in an attempt to one-up me further. "He was supposed to be the valedictorian with your hunk of man slice, Edward, but ever since you were randomly moved up to senior classes, he got booted off to salutatorian. I just think it's a good example of how good our school is with charity."

I blinked. "Charity?" I asked.

"Yes," she replies, tossing her perfect hair that she clearly didn't deserve. "You may be the lead singer of that pathetic little family band of yours, Bella, but that's exactly why you got picked to be valedictorian."

"Actually, Jessica, I got picked to be co-valedictorian with Edward because my SAT test scores were fifty points away from getting the highest score possible. Edward got 2350 as well, whereas your brother only got 2300 points on his SAT," I replied with a pleasant smile. "That's what people look for in real life, Jessica. I'm afraid it wouldn't have mattered if my parents were doctors or musicians, I still would have achieved my dreams."

"You don't deserve to—" she tries.

But I cut her off before she can finish attempting to drag me down. "I wish you well in life, Jessica, because I really think if you spent as much energy being mean to others or dragging people down, you could really build a good empire for yourself." I gave each of them a final smile before slipping away to find Edward again.

I found him talking to some guys from the football team, but he excused himself as soon as he saw me. He greeted me with a kiss and produced his copy of our speech, but noticed, and quickly, that something was wrong. I told him about running into Jessica but he assured me that everything would be all right. We went over our piece for the ceremony and, all too soon, _Pomp and Circumstance_ played over the loudspeakers. I knew that the next time Edward and I would walk down any form of an aisle to music would be at our wedding, and this thought covered me like a warm blanket as we took our places to deliver heartfelt words to the Class of 2013 and their friends and families.

. . .

"Is that everything?" Mom asked as she looked in the massive trunk of the black and very sleek stretch limo, which was to take us to the airport.

I handed over the checklist, red check marks dotting the page. "I think so," I replied, nodding and allowing her to get a good look.

"Looks fine," she said. "Honey, kids! Let's get a move on!"

Dad, Edward, Jasper, Emmett, Alice, and Rosalie all trooped through the backyard and into the limo. Mike and Eric would be meeting us in their private jet at the airport, so it would just be all of us riding in the limo. I got into the limo and to my place beside Edward and took his hand, waiting for the driver to get moving. Mom slammed the trunk shut and got into the limo, sitting beside Dad as Dad shut the door.

"Let's go," Mom said.

"We're off," Dad said.

We were able to bypass a lot of traffic and soon we managed to navigate our way onto the freeway towards the airport. Edward and I talked about how excited we were for our first tour together as a couple, while Mom and Dad looked on at all their children and their significant others adoringly. The driver took us off the appropriate exit of the freeway and soon we got to the private loading dock.

Mike and Eric were there waiting for us and they made sure that the airport staff got all of our luggage out from the trunk and of the limo and onto the plane accordingly. They brought us into their expansive plane which had five cabins, meaning that each of us would have to share with someone in our party. Edward took my hand immediately, while Alice and Jasper stood together, and Emmett and Rosalie inched towards one themselves. Mom and Dad rolled their eyes and decided to allow it, and Mike and Eric encouraged us to take advantage of as many amenities as we wanted.

"I don't know about you," Edward said as we shut our cabin door behind us, "but I am definitely going to join the mile-high club."

I shoot him a grin before lying upon my side on the bed. I lie back slightly so that one of my elbows can rest lightly on the mattress, and I open my legs ever so slightly. "The flight is ten hours and ten minutes," I replied. "We're going to Paris—the city of love. So what's stopping you from loving me?" I whisper.


	2. Gay París!

Chapter Two: Gay París!

I awoke just as the pilot of the private jet informed us that we were landing at the airport in Roissy-en-France, a suburb of Paris. Edward and I quickly showered before getting dressed in our new clothes to greet the swarm of reporters that were to come to meet us at the gates. I felt secure as my parents stood with us, but soon became uneasy when they urged Edward and me to walk out first. The sunlight blinded us briefly before stepping onto Parisian ground, and soon shouts of reporters and fans took up all of our attention.

"Bella Swan!" shouted a particularly effervescent reporter, dressed in a red suit jacket and black suit pants. "Blaire Beauvier from _Paris Pitch_! Can we please have a word with you and your beau?" she asks.

I plastered a smile on my face. "Of course, Blaire," I replied.

"What's your man's name?" she asked.

"I'm Edward Cullen," Edward replied politely.

"And how long have you two been together?" Blaire asked.

"Two wonderful months," I replied with ease, "but we've known each other since we were very young. Jasper's girlfriend, Alice, is my best friend and Edward's younger sister."

"Ah, I see you like to keep it in the family," Blaire replied. "You've got three shows here in Paris in one week. Where do you all go next?"

"Rome," I replied. "Then Milan, Lisbon, and Warsaw," I tell her. "It's going to be one heck of a tour!" I say, squeezing Edward's hand.

I'm pleased that Edward wraps it up with Blaire Beauvier on my behalf so we can get into the other limo and head to the hotel. Edward and I have our own suite at Hotel the Peninsula; it is called The Historic Suite and is probably one of the most gorgeous examples of architecture that I've ever seen. Edward decides that he wants to take a nap and I start to join him, but am interrupted by a text from Jasper, which sends annoyance charging through me.

 _Mom and Dad still need you to write a new song for the tour. Better hurry. We practice at the studio at six. —Jasper_

I sigh, informing Edward of what I have to do, and am so pleased that he understands my lifestyle now—although I think he enjoys the perks that come with it a little too much. I leave him in the master bedroom before walking out into the dining room to get to work. I sit with a stack of papers in front of me, wondering what I can possibly say. We've got plenty of lover's duets, which will be performed by Mom and Dad, so I think that something more soulful would fit the bill for the rest of the line-up.

 _When you went away from me_

 _I couldn't even begin to think_

 _What my life would be like without you_

 _My life seemed to be over in half a blink_

 _Clawing my way through what life could've been_

 _I was lost and alone in a world full of strangers_

 _And something told me that I couldn't win_

 _I was lost and alone in an unforgiving world_

 _Crippled were my thoughts as I thought of you_

 _Stumbling, barefoot, was I in my search for you_

 _All I really wanted was for you to come back to me_

 _Because we were past due_

 _To come home again_

 _We were empty inside without each other_

 _And despite the fact that I'm no perfect ten_

 _I knew that you saw me that way_

 _And in this world full of strangers_

 _I just couldn't bring myself to see_

 _That we had to go back home again_

 _And that I had to go back to being me_

 _Secrets and lies will consume you_

 _And I'm so tired of not telling you_

 _In this world full of strangers, I can't get a clue_

 _Of how you really feel for me_

 _I was empty without you_

 _And you were my vessel_

 _That I put my heart in_

 _A feeling I could not wrestle_

 _And I know that when you were gone_

 _That I could not survive without you there_

 _Though I'm just a great big pawn_

 _We'll always be lost in a world full of strangers_ …

"Wow. That's really good."

I turn and look to see Edward standing there, and I feel my cheeks heat then, as they always did when his eyes were on me, as I lower my gaze. "Thanks."

"That's about 1982?" he asks, coming to sit with me, leaning over my shoulder and pressing his lips to my neck.

I nod, biting my lip to prevent myself from unwinding completely at the sensation of his lips caressing my flesh. "Yeah."

He scans my lyrics. "Secrets and lies will consume you?" he asks, turning to look at me. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

I bite my lip. "I don't know…"

He reaches out and takes my hand. "Bella, you know I love you. Please. We agreed when we started dating that there'd be no secrets. Please. Tell me."

"Well, I…"

There's a knock on the door then, and I give Edward an apologetic look before reluctantly getting to my feet to answer it. "Emmett," I say in a voice of shock, almost forgetting the existence of my twin. "Hey. What's going on?"

"Didn't you get Jasper's text?" he asks, borderline annoyed.

I blink, taking out my phone. "Yeah, I… Oh, wait a minute, not this one." I unlock my phone and see that Jasper had asked to meet at five instead. It was now five-fifteen, and I would need to get a move on. "Sorry. Let me just tell Edward about the adjustment and I'll be right there." I turn and hurry back and pick up the lyrics before giving Edward a quick kiss. "I am so sorry. Jasper wanted to meet at five and now I'm late."

Edward nods. "I get it. It's fine." He grips my hand before I leave. "But, Bella... We will finish this conversation later?"

"Edward…"

"Please."

I rush out of the room and hand over the new lyrics to Emmett. "Be right back," I tell him before rushing back to Edward. I put my fingers around the charm of my necklace—I'd since reverted it back to its old form—and twisted them three times around it, my hand proceeding to tremble ever so slightly at what I was about to do. Taking Edward's hand, I said softly, "Let him know everything. I need Edward to know everything. I did something terrible, and now it must be undone. I wish to allow Edward to know the information I kept from him."

Edward's eyes widen as silver smoke issues from my necklace and goes into his temples, giving his mind a whole new understanding at my deception. "Africa," Edward whispers to me then, his eyes widening. "The hotel room… Us… We…" He turns and regards me then with new eyes, and I fear I have lost him. "You kept this from me…"

"Yeah," I whisper.

"Why?"

I feel my eyes fill with tears. "Because I wanted you to have a choice. I mean... I was under the impression that the sex didn't mean anything…"

"Didn't mean anything?!" Edward demands. "How could you say something like that to me?! It meant everything…"

"It meant everything to me, too," I cry out, my voice shaking. "I just didn't think that it would mean anything to you! How in the hell could someone as wonderful as you ever be interested in someone like me?"

"Someone like you?" Edward replies bitterly. "You're a liar, Bella Swan. A big, fat, liar, and I was a stupid idiot not to see it before."

"Hey!" Emmett says, stomping into the room and getting in between us. "You're not allowed to talk to my sister that way, you ass hat!"

"Shut up you half-existent twerp!" Edward yells. "Your sister's necklace actually grants wishes and guess what? This is a fake dimension that we're all suddenly a part of."

"Bella, what's he talking about?" Emmett asks.

"Emmett, I—"

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Edward asks, cutting me off completely and chuckling bitterly, and suddenly it feels as if I don't know him anymore. "Oh, of course you didn't—it's you we're talking about here, Bella, how foolish of me... Emmett, in the original dimension, your parents are overworked doctors who never see their family! Jasper lives in a frat house and Bella is always home by herself!"

"Home by herself? Wait, what are you talking about here, Edward? I don't..." Emmett whispers, eyes widening as he quickly looks from me to Edward in shock. "You mean, in this other 'dimension'… I don't… I've never…"

"That's right," Edward goes on. "You were never born."

"Edward!" I shout.

"And your mother and your aunt Marie knew it too," Edward continues, crossing his arms in a rather triumphant manner, although his eyes retain no emotion whatsoever, and I truly feel as if he is a total and utter stranger to me, one that I did not know and had no wish to know. "They knew all about and told you nothing!"

"I don't exist?" Emmett whispers, still in shock.

"No, Edward, don't..." I whisper, dropping to my knees.

"That's right! Jasper is still adopted, of course, but—and here's the tragic part—your parents are so overworked that they were under this constant amount of stress to conceive a child of their own that only Bella got conceived. Oh, and in the original dimension, your poor Aunt Marie was the only woman in Washington State to be on death row for murder! Does that about sum everything up, Bella? All your lies?"

I have since reverted to a fetal position when suddenly it seems as if I cannot hold anything back any longer. I am suddenly pushed upwards by this invisible force from far away and I let out a scream. "Let us all go somewhere far, far away from this time where we can live as we were meant to!" I scream, hardly knowing what I am talking about.

The river vortex suddenly breaks a wall of the hotel suite, and the sea salt smell suddenly fills the room. The purple clouds suck the three of us into them like a vacuum and never want to seem to let us go. We are pulled through time and space, it seems, and pale blue lights threaten to come forth from the purple clouds all around us. I turn and try to look at Edward and Emmett, but they both look just as scared as I am.

I try to speak, but it feels as if my mouth has been super-glued shut and I cannot move anything below my neck. We are pushed further and further into what seems like a never-ending vortex of time, space, fear, and the unknown. I feel tears falling from my eyes, knowing that there will be consequences as to what I've just done to my boyfriend and my brother.

And then, suddenly, almost as instantaneous as the river vortex sucked us up into it, we are thrown, roughly, as the tornado did to Dorothy's house, onto the ground. I feel my head hit something hard and jagged, and I feel something warm seeping from my now-open forehead. It comes down my face as a tear would come from my eye and I briefly taste copper. I try to turn my head, but once again, something prevents me from doing so.

When I finally am able to move somewhat, I push myself from my lying down position so that I am kneeling. I am wearing some flimsy sort of mini skirt, a flowing peasant blouse, and knee-high boots. I turn and see Emmett and Edward nursing their own forehead wounds before getting a good look at me. They wear peasant-looking shirts themselves and wear skin-tight black pants and standard-looking shoes. I turn slightly to get a look at the terrain, and I feel a thick braid—one on each side of my face—that is inexplicably the same kind as Leia's were after Han Solo was frozen in carbonite.

The terrain is flat, sandy, and very dusty. We look to be in a humid area of the world, and I wonder if we are even on the same planet. Several dilapidated shacks dot the land around us, but they look far too dangerous to house anyone. Slowly, I get to my feet, a bit of sand blowing into my wound and irritating it. I wince slightly, but force myself not to cry.

Then, what sounds like some method of transportation can be heard from above, and I shield my eyes from the hot sun to see what it is. It looks to be some kind of airship, and I bite my lip as I try to figure out if the strangers within it are friend or foe. The ship finally lands a few feet away from us, and then there are a few intense moments of silence, almost as if its occupants are unsure whether or not to come out. Finally, the door comes down so that it is a platform for the captain or whatever the ship's commander wants to call him or herself.

It is a young woman—probably no older than the three of us—who steps out of the ship and looks us over. She has beautiful brown eyes and dark brown hair, and she looks quizzically at the three of us. She says something to the guards around her, and then steps forward on her own, while the guards remain several feet behind her, their guns poised in their hands.

"English?" she asks.

"Fluently," I reply.

She nods. "I am Tia Nimr," she says before turning at the sound of an annoyed groan from one of her guards. "I will not have them be obligated to call me by my title."

"You're titled?" I ask.

She sighs. "I'm a princess, that is true." She gets a good look at my forehead, and turns to see Emmett and Edward's as well. "Seems as though you've been hurt. Come; my guards and I will do you no harm. My kingdom welcomes many outsiders. We love to compile the Earth's history of when it was so long ago…"

"So long ago?" Emmett asks, speaking for the first time.

"What are you talking about?" Edward asks.

Princess Tia smiles pleasantly at us. "My dear friends, the planet Earth was once a lush, bountiful and plentiful place, full of life and wonder. Now, only very few locations have such plenty. My kingdom is one, and we try to send out search and rescue parties to other, harsher terrains, but some people are quite resistant to our assistance, it would seem."

"Wait—the planet Earth was _once_ a lush, bountiful and plentiful place?" I ask, still not fully understanding her meaning. "Princess Tia…"

"Just Tia," she says with a smile.

"P— Tia, exactly what year is it right now?" I ask.

"Why, my dear friend, it is the year 4013," she says, almost as if we all three were hit harder than she initially believed.

"4013?" I whisper, looking around. "This isn't just some detailed _Star Wars_ movie set or something?"

Tia chuckles. "Oh, no, dear friend—"

"It's Bella."

"Oh, no, _Bella_ ," Tia tells me with a smile. "It is truly 4013, and these are dangerous parts. You must return with me to Raymore at once! They will soon take us if we do not flee!"

"They?" I demand as the three of us follow Tia back onto her ship.

"The Volturi," Tia says in a harsh whisper as the doors close quickly behind us. "If the Volturi were to see me here, all hope would be lost. The Cullen-Swan House has dwindled to a few, and I am one of the last."

"Cullen?" Edward asks.

"Swan?" Emmett and I whisper.

"Yes," Tia says, and looks us all over carefully. "Are you…relations of mine?"

"We are ancestors—must be," I say softly. "Emmett and I are twins and are Swan's. Edward here is a Cullen."

Tia claps her hands. "Splendid! Perhaps you can help us!"

"Help you?" Emmett asks.

"How can we do that?" Edward wants to know.

Tia sighs. "Ten years ago, the heir of the House of Cullen and Swan was taken to some unknown place and hidden, and we don't know where."

"Who was taken?" I whisper.

"My twin brother, Crown Prince Benjamin," Tia said, as a lever was pushed and soon we were surrounded by a great many stars and going at warp-speed to where, I presumed, was the Kingdom of Raymore.


	3. A Daunting Task

Chapter Three: A Daunting Task

Not wanting to know anything else for the time being, I stumble away from the small group of people and grab a window seat in the back of the airship and stare at everything around us. We pass by planets and moons of various colors and bright stars that I'm surprised don't blind whoever is piloting this thing. I bite my lip, hiding my damaged necklace in the leather pouch at my waist and hoping they have some kind of jeweler here to take a look at it.

We go towards a massive purple sphere with massive black stripes and soon proceed into its atmosphere. I watch as clouds on its surface hover briefly in our line of sight for a moment before we continue our descent towards ground. Edward comes to sit beside me as we get our first look at the Kingdom of Raymore, but I know it is because he wants to spot our view and not because he is prepared to discuss our differences of opinion.

"A castle?" I hear Emmett say from the front of the airship.

"Yes, that's our main dwelling, Berwick Castle," Tia says informatively. "It is to our summer house, Lydbury Terrace, that we'll move to in the coming weeks for the beginning-of-summer festival."

It is a great gray stoned dwelling with at least five or six floors to the place. A flag flies from the roof, indicating that Tia's parents are at home that day. There is a drawbridge above a deep gray moat, and the bridge is down and seemingly able to welcome visitors.

The airship lands and Tia goes to the back of the ship to summon Edward and me to walk with her. She takes us to a back entrance and instructs some servants to get me, Edward, and Emmett bathed and clothed in appropriate attire before being presented to her parents. Emmett looked excited at the prospect of attention from ladies, Rosalie forgotten, but disappointment clouds his face when Tia summons a butler for them each to escort the both of them to the male washroom, located to the south.

"Rayely, please escort Lady Bella to the female washroom," Tia instructs before another thought comes to her. "Have her put into customary noble garb and have her brought to my rooms as soon as she's finished."

I want to protest but Rayely soon walks away with a humble curtsy to Tia, so I can only dart after her. Rayely and I go down a few corridors before going into what looks like a spa, where Rayely instructs me to get into what looks like a futuristic shower. I try my best not to slip on the stone floor as I strip before I scrub my hair and body. I am thankful that Rayely turns away while I am nude.

She hands me a bathrobe and escorts me to a table—which looks quite like some sort of dressing table—and instructs me to blow dry my hair. I do so before she gets me to step into a pair of slippers and a silken robe before she walks out of the room. I quickly follow, and am taken up three flights of stairs and into a chamber which easily resembles what a duchess' room would look like. The furniture is a cream-white color, along with gold finishings, and everything looks very expensive and beautiful.

Rayely pulls out what appears to be a standard-looking dress which resembles some kind of tunic and has laces which go down my arms and up from my waist all the way to my cleavage, which is tied down. I am pulled out of the silk robe and ceremoniously put into matching flats and soon find that I want desperately to swish these deep green skirts around, but make no move to do so, fearing Rayely's reaction to what I assume would be inappropriate behavior. I watch then as she painstakingly curls my hair before putting a simple pearl tiara that looks as if it is made of vines, with the jewels performing a balancing act upon them. There is one pearl is suspended from the center of the piece and dangles on my forehead.

She nods in approval at my appearance and clasps a lovely pearl necklace around my neck and puts several rings onto each of my fingers before leading me from the chamber and down the corridor. We get to another door and Rayely knocks three times before entering and I see Tia standing there waiting for me.

"That will be all for now, Rayely," she says politely before the quiet servant bows to Tia and withdraws from us. Tia is dressed in a blue tunic gown and wears sapphires on her tiara, around her neck, and in her ears. On her hands they sparkle as well, and she shoots me a smile before stepping forward and taking my hand. "Come. I've told my mother and father that we have guests."

"What are they called?" I ask. "Your mother and father?"

"My father is King Amun and my mother is Queen Kebi," Tia replies in a patient manner before escorting me out of her rooms. We meet up with Edward and Emmett on the way, who are garbed as noble dukes and look quite proud of themselves. Emmett takes Tia's arm and Edward grudgingly takes mine as we descend the three flights of stairs and go into what appears to be the great hall.

The three of us take turns in looking around and notice that the place is decked out in what looks to be a great celebration. There are golden plates and golden goblets—which are studded with rubies and emeralds and sapphires on the long tables—waiting for a grand banquet which I assumed would be that evening. Up on the dais sits King Amun and Queen Kebi, who look curiously at the three of us.

There is a small throne to King Amun's right and two small thrones to Queen Kebi's left, and I suppose that these belong to all their children. I wonder if Tia had a sister at one point, but quickly force myself to banish the thought from my mind. I don't want to come across as impertinent.

"Mother, Father, these are the esteemed guests that I spoke of that found in West Moreland this afternoon," Tia tells her parents.

"Tia, your mother and I have informed you of the dangers of that planet," says King Amun is a no-nonsense kind of voice.

"But, Father, you don't understand," Tia protests.

"Tia, listen to your father," Queen Kebi admonishes.

"It spoke to me," Tia says in a hiss. She draws back her hair and reveals the orb-like sapphire about her throat, which is glowing ever so slightly. "It does not glow unless one of our own are endangered, and these guests are one of our own, Mother and Father."

King Amun's eyes drift to me first. "What are you called?"

"Bella Swan," I reply. "This is my brother, Emmett."

King Amun descends from the dais and peers at the both of us. "You were born from the same womb at the same time," he says softly.

"Twins," whispers Queen Kebi.

"We are," Emmett replies quietly.

King Amun looks briefly at Edward for a moment before turning back to look rather hesitantly at his daughter. "Who's this one?" he asks, jabbing his abnormally large thumb in Edward's direction, almost as if he doesn't wish to associate with him directly just yet.

"Edward Cullen," Edward says quickly to him, and the king's eyes dart to Edward's. "My name is Edward Cullen, Your Majesty."

"They are our ancestors, Father," Tia says persuasively, and the king's eyes snap back to his daughter's, although I see a sense of reluctance behind them that I find I am unable to place in a complete manner. "I had them looked over by trusted servants, never fear. I remember _some_ of the rules."

"Looked over?!" I demand, looking from one face to the next.

King Amun turns his dark brown eyes back to me, regarding me for a moment. "You will expose your shoulder, Lady Bella," he says firmly.

"Excuse me? My shoulder?" I ask, not following.

"You will do as I order," King Amun says.

I shake my head. "I don't have to show you anything."

"I am the king. You will do as you are bid."

Edward steps forward. "She doesn't have to."

"She does," King Amun says, proceeding to stamp his feet like a child.

Tia steps forward and gently pulls my tunic aside to expose my shoulder, all the while I am red from anger and embarrassment that she would dare to do such a thing. The king looks at my shoulder and gasps, taking in my difficult-to-hide birthmark. "You bear the mark of the House of Swan," he whispers, awed.

I look at my shoulder, beet red, and see the three-point freckle that had been there for as long as I can remember. "I suppose I do," I say, yanking my dress away from Tia so as I can make an effort to cover myself.

"Does he have it?" the king asks, nodding towards Emmett.

Emmett shows little to no resistance as Tia pulls a bit at his tunic and exposes the same mark that I have. "There you have it," he says grudgingly.

"Do I need to show you a mark?" Edward demands in an annoyed voice.

The king thinks for a moment at Edward's slight impertinence at his otherwise abnormal request of new palace guests, mulling it over in his mind. "Actually, yes," he says. "Tia, go look on the back of his neck."

Tia crosses the room and pulls down the back of Edward's collar, revealing the stork bite blemish there. I feel my cheeks heat as I remember tracing it over and over again with my fingers in the darkness as he and I lay in bed in the hotel room, and I wonder if he is thinking about that now, now that he's come by the information. Tia turns Edward so as King Amun can see him, and the king nods in approval.

"Very well," the king says, almost as if he is disappointed. "You three are true lords and a lady of Cullen and Swan respectively." He nods. "Come. Brantom, bring out the extra throne that was used for my younger brother. We will need it for the festivities tonight. Our honored guests will sit with us, as befits their station."

. . .

Tia tells me that the grand entertainment for the evening is to be a masked ball, and that she will send up a proper gown, mask, and jewelry for me before the festivities begin. She gives me a quick tour of the castle and I find that I am drawn to one window in particular, due to the fact that it goes from the ceiling to the floor and I get a fantastic view of the moon.

"The moon speaks to you?" Tia asks me.

I shrug. "I don't know. I've always found comfort in it."

She nods. "Perhaps you bear a relation to the Moon Spirit."

"Do you have a jeweler here?" I ask, wanting to change the subject.

Tia smiles. "Of course we do. He is formally a tradesman and merchant—he's actually my mother's brother," she tells me proudly. "Come, I shall take you to see him." Tia takes me by the hand and leads me to the bottom floor of the castle and into what appears to be some kind of luxury study. The door creaks as we open it and step inside the room, and I find myself hesitating for a moment when Tia calls, "Uncle Alistair?"

A young man—no more than five years older than we are—steps out from behind a large bookshelf. His shoulder-length, brown hair is secured by a ribbon slightly above his neck, and he wears spectacles, which I notice he quickly removes as a sign of respect, and bows to the two of us. "Princess Tia, my dear niece," he says, peering around her, and something behind his eyes shifts then, "and you must be Lady Bella. It is an honor to have the both of you here in my humble abode."

"Uncle Alistair, we need your help." Tia nods to me and I step forward slowly, and produce my broken necklace, putting it down carefully on his desk.

Alistair steps forward, balancing his spectacles on his nose as he takes a good look at it. "A family heirloom, I presume, from your homeland?"

"Yes," I reply. "Quite old, too."

"She is a Traveler, Uncle Alistair," Tia says happily.

He smiles down at me then—he is around Edward's height, and his eyes sparkle with intelligence. "Ah, yes, I thought so." He picks up my broken necklace and looks it over. "I would judge this to be over two thousand years old. Is that correct?"

"Yes, about two thousand and twenty years, give or take," I say.

Alistair turns it over and over in his hands before nodding. "I have some material like this that could work. Give me a day or two and we'll see if I can't fix this." He smiles at me, and I find that I am smiling back at him.

"Will you be at the masque this evening?" I ask, before I can stop myself.

"He's the Earl of Edington," Tia explains.

Alistair smiles indulgently at his niece before turning to look at me. "As I am a member of the nobility and the royal family, my presence is obligated and nonnegotiable."

"I see," I reply before Tia pulls me away with a brief goodbye to her uncle and takes me back up the stone staircase. "Where have you been hiding him?" I ask.

Tia blinks and shakes her head at my words. "Are you not on special understandings and terms with Edward?" she asks.

My eyebrows knit together. "Understandings and terms?"

She giggles. "Forgive me. I believe you call it 'dating' or 'courting'…"

"Courting?!" I demand, laughing aloud at the archaic nature of the term. "We called it courting a good fifty years or so before Edward and I made it official…"

"So, 'dating' would have been the appropriate term?"

I shrug. "Yeah, I guess so…"

Tia hesitates for a moment then. "But...you are dating Edward, are you not?"

I sigh. "We were," I reply, hunching my shoulders ever so slightly. "Edward and I, we… The two of us formally ended our relationship before coming here. Well, informally, technically, but he's made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be with me."

Tia blinks, her eyes taking on a new light as she touches her own amulet about her neck, and she appears fearful. "Bella…you must not say such a thing…"

I shake my head at her, confused. "What are you talking about?" I ask.

Tia takes me by the hand and leads me to a library, where she looks over a couple of bookshelves and suddenly finds what she is looking for. She takes a great book from the selected shelf and slams it down, hard, onto the table. Flipping through it, she goes back, generation upon generation, when abruptly she stops turning pages and jabs her finger at a heading upon the page before us. "Read that."

I peer down at the ancient-looking book and gasp. It appears to be a black and white photograph of me and Edward, except we look older and…happy. There are three children surrounding us, two beautiful girls and one handsome boy, who look up at me with Edward's eyes, and smile at the camera with my smile. The boy is the spitting image of Edward, while the older girl looks like me and the younger one is a mix, and I find that my hands are shaking as I grip the books' edges, staring at these beautiful children, feeling an overwhelming love that I never thought could be possible for me. Tears cloud my vision as I take this all in.

"So, you're saying that if Edward and I don't get married or have kids that…"

"This empire will cease to exist as we know it."

I find I am shaking, and that I cannot handle this sudden piece of information. I find that I suddenly need to breathe, and the library rapidly begins to feel stuffy. I dash out the double doors and run down the hallway, and I am relieved that Tia makes no move to follow me. I know that I can't tell anyone what I just saw and, feeling utterly alone, I almost allow myself to trip and fall, and I begin to sob.

I feel strong hands on me a moment later and, no longer caring, get to my feet and collapse into them, without even realizing what I'm doing. The smell is unfamiliar, and, looking up, I see that it is Alistair, and I immediately pull away. "Sorry, sorry," I say, making an effort to compose myself. "I thought…"

He smiles down upon me. "It is all right, Lady Bella. I was on my way to my rooms when I came upon you like this. I find it is best to figure out what ails a lady rather than walking by."

I smile at him through my tears, spotting a platinum band on his finger. "Your wife must be very happy to call you her husband, Lord Alistair," I say softly to him. "How long have you been married?"

He looks sad then as he stares off out the window behind me. "Yvette and I were married six years before the Frozen Epilepsy took her," comes his soft reply. "Yvette and our little son, Henri, were taken within two days of one another."

"Frozen Epilepsy?" I ask. "I don't understand."

Alistair smiles a sad smile. "Of course, I'm sorry," he replies, his tone patient at my naïveté when it comes to futuristic diseases. "Frozen Epilepsy gives its victims the illusion that they are caught in a never ending blizzard, and they become paralyzed with fear at the notion that they will not escape. The epilepsy takes over and causes them to have violent shakes, so despite their minds telling them not to move, their bodies do just the opposite. The poor people's' brains then explode due to all the tension. It lasts three days and is highly contagious, unless you get the antidote or are injected with the virus as a baby and survive."

"And you got the antidote?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. My elder brother, Vasilii, was supposed to inherit the earldom but he suffered a grave accident when I was just a little boy. Before that, my parents, then paupers, did not want another mouth to feed. My sister was betrothed to the future king, in a love match, so she was safe, and my brother was the heir. My mother and father agreed to inject into me the liquid poison for purposes that were entirely experimental, in return for a profit. Unfortunately for them, I survived, but Vasilii caught the disease himself shortly thereafter."

"So you've lost your brother, wife, and child to this?" I whisper.

He nods. "Yes."

"You poor, poor man," I whisper.

"I've never spoken to anyone outside the family of this loss before." He smiles a little once again. "It is a great comfort."

I reach out and take his hand. "I'm glad I can be of a comfort to you."

"I am glad, too."

I don't know what possesses me as I step closer to him, and gasp a little when he doesn't pull away from me. I reach up and touch his face then, pushing his brown hair from his eyes and watch as his shuts his eyes briefly to my touch. I put my arms around his neck and kiss him then, and am surprised when he throws his arms around me and pulls me hard against him, and a little squeal of delight escapes my throat then as I proceed to passionately knot my fingers through his hair. My eyes open in surprise at the delicious taste of him, when suddenly, dread fills every inch of me.

 _Edward_! I shout to myself and immediately push Alistair away. "Edward," I say, straightening my gown, my face flushed red. "What a surprise…"

Alistair bows slightly. "Lord Cullen."

"My lord of Edington," Edward replies in a clipped tone before almost forcing himself to turn back to look at me, and I wondered how he could have known Alistair's title. "I was summoned by Princess Tia to fetch you because she informed me you'd upset yourself," he says, his tone bordering on anger. He raises his bended arm. "I am bidden to bring you to your chambers to ready you for the masked ball."

"Of course," I say hastily, turning to Alistair. "My lord of Edington."

"Lady Swan," he says as I slip past him.

I take Edward's arm then and don't look at Alistair as we walk in the opposite direction towards my rooms and Tia's, where I proceed to feel guilty. "I'm so sorry you had to see that," I whisper to him, knowing that it couldn't have been easy, as one could not merely turn off their feelings so quickly, and yet I know he will have words with me. Once we round a bend, I know I am in trouble when he does not respond. "Edward…" I begin.

"Took you less than a day, didn't it?" he demanded of me in a hiss. "Or, is it more like two thousand years? We _just_ break up, and already you're on to someone new. And this time, it's an earl, and brother to a queen—excellent job, Bella, truly, I commend you for it. Got ourselves a little upgrade didn't we?"

"Edward, please," I say, my tone desperate. "Please, don't... You've got to listen to me—it's not like that."

He drops my hand and turns to look at me, shocked. "Then please permit yourself to explain something to me, Bella. Please explain to me just what exactly I walked in on. What I walked in on was you kissing another man—another man, I might add, that is well into his twenties and highly inappropriate for someone of your…caliber..." He stares at me then, and I find that his hand, formerly upon my arm, has drifted to my waist, and he pulls me against him, his lips inches from mine. "I don't like other men looking, or touching, what's mine..."

"What's yours?" I whisper, smiling a little at him, my heart beating in my ears at what he is implying then. "Jealous?" I ask.

He seizes me by the shoulders, the loving caress on my waist suddenly gone like a bitterly forgotten dream. " _Never_ say that again. _Never_ say such a thing again, Bella. I am no longer beholden to you, remember that."

"So, you're not jealous?" I ask, peeking up at him.

" _No_."

"You're hurting me," I say softly.

"Good. Perhaps now you will know my pain."

I gasp a little at that, trying and failing to get out of his grasp. Tears are flooding my eyes again, and I can't understand what is happening. Edward seemed to make it perfectly clear that he was finished with me—and who could blame him? I'd screwed up, big time. By not keeping him in the loop about every little thing that had happened in 1982, he's successfully become lost to me forever. There was no way that he would take me back, and I didn't deserve to be taken back by him. I was a liar, a known liar, and I didn't deserve anything from him. And yet I wanted it all—everything, and anything, he was willing to give me. I wanted all the harsh words, because I felt as if I deserved them, and I found it was far better to hear his cruelty than to be given steely looks and to be utterly ignored by the man I loved. I wanted him, not Alistair, and yet I was pleased that he had seen us together, for then perhaps he would know that I was not going to wait around for him forever.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "For all of it, I'm sorry. God, I was a complete idiot and I know that you have no reason to forgive me. I don't want you to forgive me; I did something wrong. But what you don't understand is the fact that I did all of this for you, Edward."

"Don't give me that crap," he replies heatedly. "What you did was selfish and self-serving, plain and simple."

"If one chose to look at it that way," I tell him quietly. "If one chose to look at this situation as selfish and self-serving, that is exactly what it would appear to be to another person, Edward, and you know that. But you know me; you _know_ me—for most of my life, you've known what kind of person I am. You know how much I love you; I made sure that you saw all that, too. The reason why I did this was because I knew that I didn't deserve you, and I still don't. You're perfect, Edward Cullen, and you're all I ever wanted in any man. I wanted you to know that you were able to have a choice in loving me."

"I never had a choice," he says softly. "Ever since that day in the closet what seems like millions of miles away in time and in space from us right here, right now. I knew it then like I know it now. I'm doomed to love you until the day I die, Bella Swan, just doomed. You're like an addictive drug, and I'll never be able to get you completely out of my system."

"God, Edward, I hope you do, for your sake," I reply, feeling tears flooding down my face fully now. "I do hope you forget me, Edward. I don't want to be the cause of your pain forever. I didn't wish for any of this—not knowingly, anyway. I just wanted you to be happy, and whether or not that was with me, it wouldn't matter. What does matter is getting through this alive." I put my arms around him for a moment, and ignore his stiffening. "I only kissed Alistair because his earldom was forced upon him after his older brother died when he was just a little boy. He then lost his wife and son because of some disease, all in the course of a few days. Alistair has a way to fix my necklace, and I'm going to use it as a bargaining chip for the three of us to get back home where we belong. We agreed to help Tia and her parents find the missing prince, and then we can go home, and get away from all this..."

"So that's all you're doing?"

I shut my eyes, more tears falling. "That's all I'm doing," I reply, my eyes snapping open again as I spread my hands. "As soon as we're out of this, I'm going to see if I can put off University of Washington and see if I can go to another university. I'm going to quit the band and live in anonymity, so that you never have to see me again, publicly or privately."

"Bella—"

"No, don't you see?" I ask, pulling back from my one-way embrace and gazing at him through my veil of tears. "I'm doing this for you all over again. It's only ever been for you, Edward." I shrug and smile at him. "As soon as we've rescued the prince, we can go home and forget this…forget us…"

"But I don't want to forget," Edward says, trying to reach out for me. "I don't want to forget any of it, Bella."

I take his hands for a moment before letting go. "Try," I whisper. I step back towards him and, my hands on his cheeks, lean in and kiss him briefly on the lips, mutual sighs of longing escaping from both our parted lips, as Edward leans his forehead into mine, his hands clawing slightly at my back, in order to keep me with him.

"Bella…" He whispers.

I wanted to tell him then, to tell him so much, to make him understand my logic, but I could not bring myself to do so. My lower lip quivering, I drew my hands back from their hold upon his face, and managed to force myself away from him. "I promise you'll never have to be alone with me again. Goodbye," I whisper, walking away from him.


End file.
